Judge orders man to trial in 2014 slaying of female jogger

MUSKEGON, Mich. – A 46-year-old western Michigan man under investigation in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk will stand trial in the slaying of a female jogger.

WZZM-TV reports that a judge on Wednesday ordered Jeffrey Willis to Muskegon County Circuit Court on murder and gun charges in the 2014 shooting death of 36-year-old Rebekah Bletsch in Dalton Township.

Willis of Muskegon Township also was charged in April with kidnapping a 16-year-old girl. The girl told investigators that she jumped out of Willis' minivan to escape.

Ballistics matched a handgun seized from the vehicle with slugs found in Bletsch's body and shell casings.

Authorities also have said Willis is a person of interest in the 2013 disappearance of then-25-year-old Jessica Heeringa from a Norton Shores gas station.